Self-styled guru Ram Rahim Singh has appeared in music videos and films. He was sentenced on Thursday to life in prison.
Photograph: Tsering Topgyal/AP

An Indian court sentenced a popular and flamboyant spiritual guru and three followers to life in prison on Thursday over the murder 16 years ago of a journalist who published a letter about the guru’s alleged sexual exploitation of women.

The self-styled “godman” and leader of the Dera Sacha Sauda sect, Singh has starred in a number of music videos and is known for his flamboyant jewellery. He has also starred in Bollywood films. His group claims to have more than 60 million followers worldwide.

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Judge Jagdeep Singh convicted the guru and his three followers on murder charges last Friday. The followers were present in the court in the Indian town of Panchkula, 249km north of Delhi.

“This is the triumph of truth, I feel relieved today. The prosecution had demanded capital punishment but we’re satisfied with the punishment,” the Indian Express newspaper quoted Anshul Chhatrapati, the son of the slain journalist, as saying.

The guru is imprisoned in the northern India town of Rohtak after being sentenced last August in the rape case. His conviction sparked violent protests by his followers that left at least 38 people dead and hundreds injured in Panchkula.

Before his imprisonment he played himself in biopics and courted powerful politicians. He lived with tens of thousands of his followers on a sprawling 400-hectare (1,000-acre) ashram in Haryana state.

Many members of Dera Sacha Sauda are said to be Sikhs belonging to the lowest caste in society who are drawn to the sect’s message of equality among followers. Most devotees take the surname “Insan”, Hindi for human, symbolising a devotion to humanity.